Getting Some Mixed Signals

I know this is going to sound like I’m technology-challenged, but it astounds me the things we’re able to do with our cell phones. I mean we can take photos, videos, play video games, watch TV, surf the Web, text message, send and read e-mail. Oh yeah, we can also make phone calls.

I have barely scratched the surface of what I can do on my cell, but our kids have mastered the art of cell phone customization - ring tones, wall-paper and screen savers. In order to keep things simple for my wife and me, we each have identical model phones as our kids.

My wife has the same model as our son and I have the identical model as our daughter. This way, when my wife or I need tech assistance with our phones, we merely have to ask the kids who can do everything with their phones short of landing the space shuttle by remote control.

I did figure out how to put a custom ring tone on my phone. Although it’s usually set to vibrate because I’m in so many meetings at work. The other morning, I was rushing out the door so that I could leave for work.

I grabbed my cell phone off the kitchen counter, although I didn’t remember leaving it there. I had a morning meeting so I was in a hurry to get to the office. What I didn’t know was that in my rush, I grabbed my daughter’s phone instead of mine.

We were in a heated discussion in the meeting when the cell phone in my pocket went off. All everyone in the room could hear was Fergie of the Black-Eyed Peas singing, “My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump!” I fumbled to turn it off but that seemed to highlight the incident.

I believe at that very moment every guy in that room was questioning my manhood. I’m sure every woman in the room was picturing a huge “L” on my forehead. Of course, it was probably worse for my daughter if while standing with her crew of 9-year-olds, my ring tone went off - the theme from Rawhide.